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When do I have to retun deposits?

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lynnboyd47

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I rent one of properties out to 4 students. I gave a 30-day notice to them on November 3rd. One of them moved out on November 14th. The rest moved out on December 3rd. The one that moved out early now wants her deposit back and says I am over the 21 days allotted to return the deposit. Seeing as the house was not cleared out until the 3rd makes me think that I have until the 24th to return the deposit? Am I correct in thinking this?
 


justalayman

Senior Member
is there one lease with 4 people on it or are there 4 leases with one person each?

If the first, you are correct. If the latter, she is correct.
 

sandyclaus

Senior Member
is there one lease with 4 people on it or are there 4 leases with one person each?

If the first, you are correct. If the latter, she is correct.
Exactly my thinking.

If you have separate leases with each of the 4 tenants, this is why it is difficult to assess individual damages, especially when they have a specific room they rent but are allowed to access the entire house as a common area. You can certainly figure out what damages are attributable to someone by the condition of the room they rent, but when it comes to assessing damages for the common areas, that becomes a grey area.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
So when you contact her again about final disposition of deposit in certified mail send her short note too that reminds her the lease was a joint lease and her choice to vacate early does not speed up deposit disposition that the time clock begins when all parties to the joint lease have vacated.
 

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